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Parliament endorses
Fifi Kwetey’s nomination
Accra, March 28,
Ghanadot/GNA – By a vote of 117 to 106, Parliament Friday night
approved the nomination of Mr Fifi Kwetey as a Deputy
Minister-designate for Finance and Economic Planning.
A heated and prolonged debate heralded his endorsement, which
saw the House going into a long voting procedure after the
Minority had
rejected a head count of members.
Moving the motion for the approval of Mr Kwetey, Mr Edward Doe
Adjaho, Chairman of the Appointments Committee of Parliament
said the Committee
carried out its duty diligently in accordance to the 1992
Constitution and the Standing Orders of the House with respect
to the nomination of Mr. Kwetey.
He said the committee, having
satisfied itself that the nominee has fully met the requirement
of the Constitution and called on members of the House to
approve the nomination of Mr Kwetey.
The Minority, however, called on the House to reject the nominee
based on various reasons.
The Minority Leader, Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu said the
integrity of people nominated to hold public office matters
should be established and that members of the House should be
discerning and consider the interest of the nation by doing what
was right and reject the nominee.
He said Mr. Kwetey made false allegations against the New
Patriotic Party (NPP) government and when his attention was
drawn to that he replied that what he said was true and that
given the opportunity he would do it again.
Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu described Mr Kwetey’s rhetoric’s as
“improper and unfortunate,” adding that, the nominee did not
show any humility during the vetting, which does not augur well
for someone seeking public office.
Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, NPP member for Manhyia said the
nominee’s behaviour during his vetting was not a good example
for the youth and the nation as a whole.
He said Mr. Kwetey appeared before the Committee “not as an
individual but as a party and even refused to swear the oath
with the excuse that he
does not tell liar.”
“President Evans Atta Mills even swore an oath not because he
was a liar but that it was an onerous obligation to Ghanaians”
and advised the President
to replace Mr Kwetey with another person.
Mr. Isaac Asiamah, NPP-Atwima-Mponua said the nominee told lies
to the Committee by saying that, the NPP government had sold the
gold reserves of
the country, which turnout to be untrue and wondered how such a
person could be reward with a position as a Minister of Finance.
He called for Mr. Kwetey’s rejection to save the nation and
Parliament from embarrassment.
Mr Dominic Azumah, NDC-Garu-Tempane urged the House to approve
Mr Kwetey’s nomination and described him as a dynamic, young and
decent gentleman.
He said Mr Kwetey has learnt his lessons and must be given the
chance to exhibit qualities for the benefit of the nation.
Mr Inusah Abdulai Fuseini, NDC-Tamale Central said throughout
the Minority’s argument that Mr Kwetey should be rejected, none
of them doubted
his qualification to hold the position.
He said they only talked about news reports attributed to Mr
Kwetey, which the nominee did not invent and cited an example of
one of such stories
the nominee got from a Daily Graphic report way back in 1996.
At a point during the debate, the Minority members started
shouting “We want Asaga, we want Asaga,” indicating that they
preferred Mr Moses Asaga, NDC-Nabdam and former Deputy Minister
of Finance to Mr Kwetey.
Three other Deputy Ministers were unanimously approved by the
House.
They are Dr Kwesi Akyem Apea-Kubi, Deputy Minister-designate for
Interior; Mrs Dzifa Aku Attivor, Deputy Minister-designate for
Transport and Mr Elvis Afriyie Ankrah, Deputy Minister-designate
for Local Government and Rural development.
GNA
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